New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis returned to work after his eight-game suspension Tuesday with another black cloud hanging over his desk. But he echoed Sean Payton's "absolute" confidence that the team and coach will reach a contract agreement to keep Payton in New Orleans beyond this season.

New Orleans Saints General Manager Mickey Loomis is dealing with a huge issue on his first day back from suspension, Sean Payton's contract. TP file photo

"I absolutely expect Sean to be our coach next year and going forward. These contract issues will be resolved," Loomis said, declining to discuss any further specific details.

Sources familiar with the negotiations have indicated that the two sides are waiting to resume contract talks until they receive specific written permission from the league to do so. Although a league source told The Times-Picayune on Sunday that Payton and the Saints are allowed to negotiate a contract extension during Payton's suspension, the two sides don't want to push the envelope unless the NFL makes it absolutely clear they're allowed to do so.

Although the news just broke Sunday that Payton's recent contract extension was rejected by the NFL, making him a potential free agent at the end of the season, it wasn't news to those involved. Payton and Loomis have known about the issue since the league first rejected Payton's contract extension months ago.

However, since Payton had already begun serving his own suspension at the time, no talks about a revised deal have taken place since then.

In the meantime, however, they will presumably focus on working out a new or revised contract extension during the next two months.

It also remains unclear when Payton's contract is specifically scheduled to expire. Some coaching contracts end after the team's final game of the season. Others end after the Super Bowl. Others on a specific date, possibly as far as the end of the league year in March.

Obviously, the Saints and Payton shouldn't be that far off, since they both signed a three-year contract extension last year and submitted it to the NFL.

However, the league ultimately rejected the deal because it included a clause that said Payton could walk away from the deal if Loomis ever left the organization for any reason.

Reportedly, the NFL didn't want to set a precedent by allowing a coaches' job status to be tied to that of another team employee. However, the NFL has allowed at least one similar clause in the past -- when Payton's mentor, Bill Parcells, had an escape clause as an executive with the Miami Dolphins in the event of an ownership change.

The NFL has declined to explain why it allowed one contract and not the other.

It remains to be seen if the Saints and Payton can come together quickly on a new deal even without that clause in place.

Although that clause can be seen as Payton's strong show of faith in Loomis, it could also be interpreted as a concern about the Saints' ownership situation if Owner Tom Benson's active role should be scaled back in the coming years.

Pro Football Talk reported Tuesday that a league source said Payton wanted to be sure Loomis would "be present to serve as a buffer between the coach and (owner/executive vice president) Rita Benson LeBlanc."

I have heard similar characterizations of Payton's concerns from league sources - though they were mostly couched as overall concerns about how the ownership structure might change in the future.

There is no indication that Payton is unhappy with his current working relationship with LeBlanc or her role in the organization -- just that he might be concerned about how the organizational structure would change if she or somebody else took on a larger ownership role.

Earlier this year, Benson restructured his management team after purchasing the NBA's Hornets. Among the moves he made were promoting Dennis Lauscha to more of a leadership role with the Saints as team president and moving LeBlanc to a more expanded role throughout all of the family's business holdings as vice-chairwoman of the board. In addition to her roles with the Saints and Hornets, LeBlanc's role includes enhanced management responsibilities with Zelia LLC, which includes properties such as Benson Tower and Champions Square, as well as various interests in the automotive, real estate and banking sectors and multimedia platforms, including Fox affiliate WVUE.

Payton's desire to seek such a clause in his contract is not surprising -- especially considering his mentor Parcells had a similar clause (though Parcells ultimately elected to stay after Huizenga sold the team to Stephen Ross).

Payton has an outstanding working relationship with Benson, Loomis and others in the organization right now, where he enjoys a lot of trust and authority. That's one of the Saints' strongest selling points as they will try to retain their coach in the coming months instead of losing him to another suitor.

Chances are, Payton would feel comfortable re-signing with the Saints even without a specific clause in his contract, since he would have every reason to believe that Loomis will remain a part of the Saints power structure well into the future.

But the Saints would likely have plenty of competition for his services on the open market if they don't lock him up by the end of the season. The threat that looms largest is the Dallas Cowboys, if they decide to make a coaching change at the end of the season. Payton also has a great relationship with Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones, whom he used to work for. And his family now lives in Dallas, which could trump everything else.